Burst busters to get to work in Sheffield

VILLAGERS are hoping the worst of the bursts will soon be over in their Sheffield community – when work begins to replace a notoriously accident-prone water pipe.

The ageing cast-iron pipe underneath Oughtibridge dates back to the Victorian era – and has burst 12 times over the last few years.

It is now to be replaced with a modern plastic version, which should provide more regular supplies and result in less damage to homes.

Engineers Balfour Beatty will begin work on Bridge Hill on January 7, tackling one of the worst burst blackspots in the whole county.

The Yorkshire Water project is expected to take three weeks and will result in a section of the hill being closed to traffic – though residents will still have access to their homes.

A parallel operation to clean out water pipes, which began in Stocksbridge earlier this year, will continue along Manchester Road in January.

It will then move into Oughtibridge in February before moving on to Middleton.

The work will give the pipes an MOT ensuring residents continue to benefit from high quality water and help prevent incidents of any discolouration.

To ensure the safety of road users and on-site teams, two-way traffic lights will be in place, following the work as it progresses.

Yorkshire Water’s project manager said: “Tackling bursts and incidents of water discolouration is quite rightly something that customers are very supportive of.

“However, we recognise with work of this magnitude there’s always likely to be some disruption, and we want to reassure everyone concerned that we’ll be doing all we can to minimise this and hopefully finish ahead of schedule.”

The work is part of a £150 million investment programme in South Yorkshire which runs until 2015.